Thrifting to Decorate My Kitchen: The Corner Cabinet and the Girl Scout Fiestaware

When I was house hunting, I wanted built-ins.  Oh my goodness, did I want built-ins. I craved cute little fold down ironing boards and bookcases and cute corner hutches.  One of the main things on my house wish list was one of those cute wood scroll things above the sink that were so popular in 50s kitchens and seem to be ripped out constantly on those awful remodeling shows.  Alas, when I found the right house for me, while it did have the original wood cabinets that I so desperately wanted and a nice built-in bookcase in the living room, there was not a cute scroll-y thing in sight.  

A few months ago, my mother and I were at an estate sale (we do love a good estate sale) and I saw this corner hutch.  All the fun scroll work I could handle, plus it looks like something that could have feasibly been built into my 1947 house. It had a few coats of old flaking paint on it, but a fresh paint job and it’s good as new.  Here it is mid-paint job:

personal photo

Around the same time, I scored an awesome stash of Fiestaware at a Girl Scout fundraiser garage sale.  My mom had gone to the garage sale before me and told me that I had to go back.  They had Fiestaware... cheap.  We got there just as they were closing and luckily, they reopened just for us.  There was tons of Fiestaware, much of it brand new and never used.  I scored all of this awesome stuff for about $25.  Super exciting.

And here is my new corner hutch with a piece or two of Fiestaware, some awesome family pieces also by Homer Laughlin, a few other pieces, and my (fake) raven lurking at the top.

Obviously, it’s not totally done looking, but it’s well on its way.  This corner was the catch all for a long time, so to get it to this point is a victory. 

MY HOUSE! The kitchen....

I'm finally writing about my house! When I bought my house about a year and a half ago, almost every surface in the entire place was yellow.  And not light, cheerful, sunny yellow... icky, sickly, mustard-y yellow.  The walls in the bathroom, sunroom, and kitchen were all painted the same shade of yellow, the kitchen had yellow countertops, and the bathroom had vintage yellow tile up the walls (in addition to the yellow paint).  Anything that wasn't currently yellow had clearly been yellow at one point, since when paint chipped off of doors, cabinets, or anything else, there it was underneath. It was a lot.  I'm pretty obsessed with keeping original details in vintage houses, so the kitchen countertops and the bathroom tile are staying.  The sickly yellow walls had to go though.

Before I moved in, I painted every wall in the house (including the weird green bedroom) to shades of greige, grey, and navy.  I ran out of time though and the kitchen languished in yellow purgatory for a few more months.  Eventually, I couldn't take it any more and painted the walls a light ivory just to make it more bearable.  Still though, it remains the room that has gotten the least attention.  It got a pretty corner hutch (which will get a post of its own) and a new stove that I love, but while it's a vast improvement, it's still the most overlooked room of the house.

The rest of my house is about 90% finished inside (the exterior is a whole other story... we spent the entire day yesterday planning what we want to do out there, but I digress).  The interior needs a few decorative finishing touches and some organizing, but it's mostly the way that I want it.  The kitchen is the major exception though and I'm excited that its time is coming.

So now for my design plan, some before photos, during photos, and some inspiration photos....

vintage hutch, Grow House Grow wallpaper, similar table to what I have: Saarinen Dining Table from hivemodern.com, similar bentwood chair: Sweetheart Bentwood Chair from americanchairs.com, similar houseplant from houzz.com, my kitchen cabinets, mint canisters from Pier 1, grey cabinets: marthastewart.com, appliances are from GE.